KNOCKING is on PBS tonight- haven't decided on watching for wife's sake

by OnTheWayOut 28 Replies latest jw friends

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  OnTheWayOut

  Do you have any specific suggestions on things I could bring up with the family?

  Open Mind

  In my review, I said: "One family member even said they are a cult, and that her grandson only
  feels that he shouldn't have blood because of the religion's "pressure" upon him." Expand on that.

  "Honey, what would the family do if he took the blood. They said [something to the effect that
  it was his decision.]"

  Also,

  Try to make something of the producer being openly gay. Follow Danny Haszard's links on his
  KNOCKING thread (links posted just awhile ago) to the gay exJW's site. My wife is disgusted by
  gays, but I don't know how to exploit that.

  The guy who joined the JW's after getting out of a concentration camp, converting from Judaism-
  Ask "Why didn't he try to get his daughter while she was young and raise her as a JW?" I wouldn't
  go further than that- too hard to make a point on that story.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Also, Open Mind-

  ask about the young man's taste in music. He listens to/ plays heavy metal guitar.

  Ask if he is more balanced than other JW's. Insist that he must be viewed that way by WT
  because WT cooperated with the film, he knows WT will see the film, and his stance on blood is rigid.
  "So if he is able to decide to listen to heavy metal and play it on a guitar, shouldn't we be allowed to
  decide more things, like what to wear after the convention, or whether to go to college?"
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  Open mind

  Thanks OTWO.

  Forewarned is forearmed.

  Open Mind
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  OnTheWayOut

  Open Mind, in my review of the film, I said that I asked the producer/writer
  

  I also asked "At the beginning, you (Joel) said that your mother wanted you to be a Witness, but you became a Journalist,
  instead. Can you tell us why you could not have been both, or why that statement seemed important for you to put into
  the film?"

  Hit on that point. "Why did he say he became a Journalist instead?" (Allow for response) "Could he have
  meant that he wants to make a difference now instead of in the future? Couldn't he have been both? Maybe
  Mom thought he shouldn't go to college. (Say the following in front of kids) Well, he did have the right to choose
  his own future, not to be a Witness. Since he didn't get baptized, Mom doesn't have to shun him, even though
  he's gay."
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  Open mind

  I like the way you think, OTWO.

  Thanks for taking the time to help me get ready for tonight.

  Open Mind
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  jgnat

  I think any material like this, an outsider's view of the society, is useful for spouses to open up discussion. You could ask which parts she agreed or disagreed with, and why? How did they portray the society "wrong"? Would this help an "outsider" understand the complexities of her beliefs better?

  I know one "Unbelieving Mate" who used Tom Cruise, the Scientologists, and a comprehensive article written by Rolling Stone to bring up interesting parallels.

  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology/4
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  OnTheWayOut

  Thanks jgnat,

  I think I will watch with the JW wife. I know what to expect, and Open Mind has sharpened my
  thinking on what to say in front of the wife. I think she will probably avoid the program, but listen
  from the other room. Maybe the almost normalizing of the people will draw her out. Thanks everybody.
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  undercover

  I looked up the listing on tvguide.com and the synopsis of the program mentions a young man who refuses a liver transplant for religious reasons.

  Since JWs don't prohibit organ transplants anymore, why does this young man feel the need to refuse a liver transplant?

  Does this transplant require the use of a blood transfusion? If it does, then shouldn't it be said that he is refusing a blood transfusion, not an organ transplant?

  Those of you who have seen the program already, can you enligten us on how that situation was presented? It could be that those who want to try to start some dialogue with a JW family member could use this as a way of showing how the WTS has changed their policy on transplants which can lead to a discussion on how they've changed, and are continuing to change, the policy on accepting blood and blood fractions.
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  OnTheWayOut

  the synopsis of the program mentions a young man who refuses a liver transplant for religious reasons.

  WARNING- SPOILER. He refuses to have surgery unless it is bloodless. In the end, someone agrees to the
  surgery without blood. His dad is the donor, because the conditions of his surgery (bloodless) prevent his
  eligibility to receive a liver from the database of donors. His dad and he might die on the table or afterward.
  Family doesn't look so normal when they place two lives in the balance over the blood issue and say "Well, there's
  always the resurrection." They both lived.

  Your tvguide is slightly wrong.

  Even though he had months to prepare, you could mention how he wasn't allowed by current doctrine to save up
  his own blood. "I wonder if that will change."
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  AudeSapere

  From the TV Guide website http://www.tvguide.com/listings/default.aspx :

  Independent Lens 10:00pm PBS 60min 2007 TV-PG Knocking The film “Knocking” examines the Jehovah's Witness religion through profiles of members, including Joseph Kempler, a Jewish WWII concentration camp survivor who converted after arriving in the United States. Kempler speaks to high-school students about his experiences and his religious background. Also: Seth Thomas, a young man with a liver condition who refuses to get a liver transplant for religious reasons.

  I'm undecided if I will watch or not. I feel like I'm a 'fading' xjw... -Aude.